Smashing the 1,000-weasel barrier – and still climbing

My trainer had me test my 1-rep max for squats the first time today – the maximum weight I could lift, just once, for that exercise.

Unfortunately we didn’t get quite all the way to my max – when we finished, I still felt like I could have done more weight. But we smashed through the 1000-weasel mark like it never existed. I squatted 1,060 weasels and felt like I could have done at least another 40-80 weasels!

By Keven Law (originally posted to Flickr as On the lookout…) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

(For those of you not familiar with the weasel unit of measurement, there are 4 standard English weasels to the pound, so I was squatting 265 pounds and felt like I could have done 10-20 pounds more at least. And if you’re wondering why I’m measuring progress in weasels, check out this blog post about why weasels are way better than self-discipline!)

And I wasn’t even at my true maximum. And I’m 48. And I’ve been training for exactly 6.5 months as of today. Before that, I was a couch potato.

Dang. I got into this to lower my blood sugar, but you know, I think I might actually be a contender?

That said, I have a long way to go before I start winning powerlifting competitions. Powerlifting consists of three lifts: squat, deadlift, and bench press. My deadlift and bench press are quite weak, so I need to work on those areas before I’m ready to enter competitions (if I decide to do that).

Comments

Brava! Your efforts will continually be rewarded by increased health and energy, I’m certain. As a 20-year-older-than-you long-time couch potato, I can tell you that not keeping up with your exercise is a severe punishment as you age.